When Linda Weldon started working at Aflac's Columbus-based call center 10 years ago, a big attraction was the company's on-site day care center, which took care of her young daughters while she worked the phones.
Desiree was just 3 months old, and Lauren was 1.
"I was able to focus on my job while they were taking care of the children," Weldon said.
In the years since, Weldon has relied on Aflac's day care arrangement to care for another daughter and a son. Meanwhile, she moved up in the organization through training programs offered at the insurance company's corporate campus.
Today, she is a manager of policy services.
Aflac is one of three Georgia companies recently named by Working Mother magazine to its annual list of the top 100 places in the United States to work. Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Turner Broadcasting System also made the list.
The magazine based its list primarily on five criteria: flexibility, leave time for new parents, child care, elder care and the number of women occupying top jobs. Companies made the case for their policies in applications submitted to the magazine.
Representatives of the three Georgia companies listed say the mom-friendly policies and benefits are good for morale. Because women of childbearing age constitute a large part of their work force, it is also good business, they say.
"Our [employee] retention was very low," said Linda Matzigkeit, senior vice president of human resources at Children's Healthcare. "But in recent years we've seen our retention rate go from 68 percent to 86 percent."
About 80 percent of Children's Healthcare's 6,500 employees are women; 60 percent are mothers.
Among the strategies the company uses to help mothers juggle work and family responsibilities:
* Helping with baby-sitting: An intranet program helps employees find sitters online. The hospital hosts a sitter matchmaking event -- along the lines of speed dating -- in which 50 potential baby sitters are gathered in a room, and parents take turns interviewing them for five minutes.
* Subsidizing child care: Parents pay a nominal amount to drop off children at day care or pay a little more for in-home baby-sitting.
* Hosting mom-friendly events: Children's Healthcare hosts a quarterly baby shower for pregnant employees and their spouses. At the shower, Matzigkeit offers information about benefits and maternity leave.
And, she said, she reinforces the hospital's commitment to employees who take time off from work to have children. "When I kick off each one, the first thing that's out of my mouth is, 'We're so happy for you that you're having this child,' " Matzigkeit said.
Turner Broadcasting, the parent company of cable networks that include CNN, recently marked the 10-year anniversary of offering on-site day care to its employees.
"Because we have a 24-hour work force, we had to look at this earlier than most companies," said Kelly Regal, Turner's executive vice president of human resources. "This is one piece of letting employees bring themselves to work."
Other pieces include offering flexible work hours and professional-development opportunities, including tuition assistance.
"We want to give employees as many choices as possible," Regal said. "And we want people to look at not just how it's going to benefit them, but how it's going to benefit the company."
Almost half of Turner employees are women, and the same percentage holds true for management and senior management, Regal said.
Appearing on the Working Mothers top 100 list helps the company beyond the obvious benefit of outside recognition, Regal said.
"Our main motivation for applying for these awards is it allows us to get benchmarking data for best practices," Regal said.
"It's also a morale boost for employees and helps with talent attraction and retention."
Representatives of the three companies are careful to note that, although women are more likely to use the child-friendly benefits, male employees are also eligible for leave, flexible work hours and day care benefits.
But some accommodations are strictly for moms.
"We have lactation rooms at all of our facilities," said Audrey Boone-Tillman, senior vice president and director of human resources at Aflac. "I've had all three of my children while at Aflac, and I can tell you it's important to have lactation rooms."
The insurer offers a recurring series of lectures and classes to support its working parents, Boone-Tillman said. Topics include parenting a strong-willed child, parenting a special-needs child and starting a child off right in school.
"I get a lot of questions when I go out to speak about what the return on investment is," Boone-Tillman said. "But when 70 percent of your employees are female, to remove child care issues from their list of concerns -- just the peace of mind that brings that employee has to bring the company more productivity."
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